Official Road Trip Stop #20: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

9/20/2009
Padres 4 @ Pirates 0

Ahoy Mateys! Climb aboard and I'll spin you a yarn about the terrors of the deep, way down below in the depths of last place in the National League Central. And be warned - dead baseball franchises tell no tales!

The Pirates have been black spotted ever since Barry Bonds left town after the 1992 season for San Francisco. Since hilariously losing to Sid Bream and the Braves in Game 7 of the NLCS that year, the Pirates have failed to have a winning season. At all. Not one. They are truly, a historically bad franchise.

There isn't even any hope at the moment, either. The Pirates have been plundered (I'm on a freaking roll) of almost all of their talent, and are, yet again, rebuilding. It is so bad, that at this afternoon's game, when a 9 year old was asked on the Pirate Vision who his favorite Pirate was, he didn't know, because anybody worth mentioning has been traded away. I honestly feel bad for kids who are forced to root for a team that features Lastings Milledge as the #3 hitter in the line-up.

The Pirates may be the best case for a booty salary cap in baseball that there is. They are marooned in the small market of Pittsburgh, but just this year, the Steelers of the NFL and the Penguins of the NHL managed to win their respective championships in sports that have a salary cap in that same market.

What makes the Pirates toiling in Davey Jones' Locker so much more depressing is the fact that they do have such a great history and tradition, with names like Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell, and the fact that they play in such a beautiful, beautiful stadium in PNC Park.

PNC Park opened in 2001 and quickly became the favorite stadium of many, many people. I really looked forward to this one as I had heard absolutely nothing but good things. The stadium is situated right on the North Shore of the Alleghany River, with a magnificent view of (surprisingly) beautiful downtown Pittsburgh. Two things that I'm a sucker for.

The stadium is beautiful, and may be the sole reason that more Pirates fans haven't yet walked the plank. There was a surprisingly decent crowd this afternoon on a "Family Sunday" to see the Pirates and Padres, two teams that have been eliminated from contention since sometime in May. However, with the Steelers game starting at 4, it felt more like a giant Steeler tailgate party than it did a Pirate game.

Like Camden Yards, PNC Park is very simplistic, and resists throwing in too many gimmicks. The view and the ballgame are enough for the fans here, and its great. Its another place where you know that "the Pirates play here." There are a lot of Pirate references and puns, which is harmlessly fun. When the Pirates do manage to win, they have a Jolly Roger flag that they will actually raise, which is a pretty cool touch, but it may look like its actually from the 1700's with all of the moths that are currently attacking it.

PNC Park is absolutely beautiful, and Pittsburgh actually seems like a pretty cool city. There just has to be some way to make the Pirates a relevant franchise again to make seeing games at PNC Park truly worth it. And I think I'm out of Pirate words, so this is the end.

You can see the treasure chest of PNC Park photos (HA! I'm good!) here.